brain vs. computer (brain wins hands down)

While even the biggest computer has a capacity of around 10,000,000,000,000 bytes (10 to the power of 12), the human brain has a colossal 10 followed by 8,432 noughts, say the scientists who made the calculations in the journal Brain and Mind.

Wow, 10^12 versus 10^8432 is quite the gap.

"Owners of dogs will have noticed that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they will think you are god. Whereas owners of cats are compelled to realize that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they draw the conclusion that they are gods."
-Christopher Hitchens

Really depends on the task. Computers are much better suited for some tasks (such as number crunching) because their structure is different from that of the human brain. Of course, it'd be a lot easier to argue this if the brain was more fully understood... anyways... yeah, I'd be surprised if even a football-field sized computer could successfully process in the same way that a brain does.

I was walking to class ealier today (a math class), and the campus was rather crowded. It crossed my mind that either the path-finding algorithm my brain was using was rather sophisticated (so that I roughly minimized my route of travel while not colliding with anyone), or it was a brute force algorithm that was being run many a time at very high speed.

The word rap as it applies to music is the result of a peculiar phonological rule which has stripped the word of its initial voiceless velar stop.

But how does it get that enviroment? The computer is based off of technology we create. Our human brain is so advanced we aren't even sure how it completely works. The study of the brain is still in the baby stages.

"When I die I want to pass peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather did, not screaming and yelling like the passengers in his car."

Originally posted by Zach L. I was walking to class ealier today (a math class), and the campus was rather crowded. It crossed my mind that either the path-finding algorithm my brain was using was rather sophisticated (so that I roughly minimized my route of travel while not colliding with anyone), or it was a brute force algorithm that was being run many a time at very high speed.

I would say the brain takes things as they come, but has a destination and knows the quickest route is a straight line, or follows a path... if you really pay attention, most of the time you're not taking the fastest route... your following the flow of traffic or just kinda walking... you don't always round the corner on the inside...